Speed governor



Aug. 29, 940- A. w. KRETzscl-IMAR SPEED GOVERNOR Filed Jan. 7', 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet l 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS A. w. KRETzscHMAR SPEED GOVERNOR v 'Filed Jan.' '7, 19:57

Aug. zo, 1940.

Patented ug. 20, 1940 UNITED STATES man 3 Claims.`

The present invention relates to governing devices for limiting the maximum speed of automotive vehicles to any predetermined rate and is applicable to any type of vehicle having an in- 5 ternal combustion engine equipped with a carburetor and manifold.

The primary object of the invention is to provide means for limiting the maximum speed of a vehicle to a predetermined rate which functions l at substantially a constant rate regardless .of

varying conditions under which the vehicle is operated such as, for instance, when the vehicle is running on the level, up or down grade, or under varying load conditions.

15 Another object of the invention is to provide a governing device for an internal combustion engine for limiting the maximum speed thereof to a predetermined rate which Will not interfere with full engine power during starting and while the 20 engine is being accelerated until that maximum rate is reached.

Prior devices for governing the speed of vehicles include a centrifugal governor opera-ted by a moving part of the vehicle engines, and operate 25 valves for controlling the fuel supply to the engines. The valves, actuated iby the governors, gradually close with increasing engine speed and result in choking of the fuel supply. The result is loss lof possible acceleration and lack of re- 30 spense for road maneuvers, such as maybe expected from an underpowered vehicle. It is another object of this invention to avoid such undesirable conditions by providing a governing device wherein the valve for controlling the fuel 35 supply functions rapidly while moving from either of its two maximum positions, wherein it cuts off the fuel supply to the engine or permits the fuel to flow thereto unrestrictedly.

A further object of the present invention is to 40 provide a governing device including a fuel control valve which is subject to a combination of forces tending Itol cause movement thereof. The velocity of the fuel flow is employed as one force tending to move the valve and a manually vari- 45 able spring resistance acts' against the rst force,

one force tending to move the valve to one extreme position and the .other tending to move the valve to its other extreme position.

Another object of the present invention is to 50 provide a governing device with a pendulum connected to the fuel control valve which exerts a force independent of the two forces above referred to for operating the valve to compensate in possible fuel flow for up and down grades.

'55 The axis of pendulum movement and its connec- (Cl. IE7-152) tion with the control valve are so related with the direction of travel of the vehicle that inclination and declination of the vehicle results in pendulum movement and regulating movement of the valve.

A further object of the invention is to provide a pendulum that moves in response to acceleration of the vehicle in a forward direction to move the valve to its maximum open position.

Another object is to provide a pendulum which 10 functions in the nature of an inertia device for holding the fuel control valve closed during deceleration of the vehicle until such time as the force ex`erted by the spring resistance oveiball ances the force exerted by the fuel flow whereby the spring resistance functions to move the valve rapidly from its fully closed to its fully open position.

A further object of the present invention is to construct the pendulum in the form of a weighty wheel for residence in the path of the fuel flow. The wheel is capable of free rotation and the spokes of the Wheels are constructed as vanes for impingement of the fuel flow thereagainst. The wheel, in being rotated by impingement of the fuel flow against the vanes thereof possesses the quality of resisting angular displacement of its` axis. It tends, therefore, to stabilize the governing in that it prevents movements of the pendulum in response to road shocks etc. during travel of the vehicle and further, it exerts a force tending to hold the pendulum in any position of adjustment so that a slight fluctuation in the fuel flow willnot effect movement of the control valve. There is also improved fuel economy resulting from the twisting action imparted to the fuel by the vanes.

With the above and other ends in view the invention is more fully disclosed with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure .l is a side view, partly in section and partly in elevation, the cover to the governing device being removed;

Fig. 2 is a view showing the device in plan, the housing and cover being shown in section;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken at right angles ,to Fig. 1 and illustrating the pendulum;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken at right angles to Fig. 3, and

Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating the :3o-operative 50 functions of the governor parts.

Like characters of reference are employed throughout to designate corresponding parts.

The numeral l designates a manifold section adapted to have a carburetor (not shown) mountv ed upon its upper end. Within the section I is the usual throttle valve 2 having linkage 3 through which manual pressure may be applied thereto for the purpose of opening and closing the saine. A second manifold section l leads to the engine (not shown) and is connected to the section l by a casing 5 having a conduit G coaxial with the sections I and Il. The present governing device is mounted in the casing 5,

In the conduit 5 is provided a butterfly valve 7, supported by a shaft 8, the axis of which is parallel with the axis of the valve 2 and normal to the direction of forward travel. The valve 'l is formed with one wing thereof having a substantial portion inclined with respect to the plane of the other wing so that when the wings are horizontal the inclined portion is inclined with respect to the horizontal by a substantial number of degrees, approximately thirty degrees. The valve l also has a small ledge 'la which extends perpendicular to the wings. Secured on the shaft 8 externally of the conduit f5 is an arm 9 having a roller il] on the outer end thereof for engagement by a suitable resiliency. The arm Q has a oounterbalance 9a secured thereto for coimterbalancing the weight of the roller IG.

The resiliency which engages the roller I0 comprises a leaf springr I! anchored to the casing at I2 and having two long, thin, light spring fingers I3 and I extending in the direction of the roller iii. The outer ends of the spring fingers i3 and lll are formed to hook over the roller I@ and with the arm S in the position shown, wherein the valve 'l is in its maximum open position, the springer finger I3 is in engagement with the roller Ill and the spring finger Ifi is spaced above the roller i9, The spring I l and arm El are relatively positioned so that swinging movement of the arm 9 in a clockwise direction causes the roller i@ to flex both spring fingers. Furthermore, this movement of the arm causes the roller I!) to move in a direction away from the point of attachment of the spring II to the casing 5.

To regulate the opposition of the resiliency to movement of the arm I I in a clockwise direction an adjustable abutment I5 is provided. The abutment I5 engages the top surfaces of the two spring fingers I3 and Ill and has a tubular portion i6 received in a bore Il in the casing 6. The abutment l5 is normally pressed outwardly by a compressed coil spring i8 which is sleeved on the tubular portion I6 and may be moved to and held in various positions of adjustment by a set screw i9.

The shaft 8 is provided with a sector gear 2li meshing with a sector gear 22 on the end of a shaft 23. The shaft J3 is suspended at its other end by a freely rockable shaft mounted in bearings 25. The shaft 23 has a weighty wheel 2G supported thereon by anti-friction bearings 2'! and freely rotatable with respect thereto. The wheel 26 has spokes 28 constructed as inclined vanes so that the gases flowing through the sections i and 2 and the conduit 6 rotate the wheel and 'the liquid particles therein are broken up.

The wheel 26, with its shaft 24 and bearings constitutes a pendulum and also an inertia device so that as the vehicle, and the conduits l and 2, assume an inclination because of up or down travel the pendulum urges movement of the valve 'I toward an open position in the rst case and toward a closed position in the second case. Upon acceleration and deceleration the pendulum also acts to urge movement of the valve toward open and closed positions respectively. The design is so proportioned that the number of degrees through which the pendulum swings is multiplied in the movement of the valve l.

At the beginning of the operation the parts are in the position shown in Fig, 6. As illustrated, the spring finger I3 is in contact with the roller I3 and yieldably opposes movement thereof. rEhe resistance which the spring finger I3 offers to movement of the arm 8 is designated on Fig. 5 as RI. springr finger Ill is out of contact with the roller I 0 and initially oiers no oppositicn to movement of the arm 9. After a predetermined movement of the arm 9, however, the roller Il) contacts the spring finger I l and the latter opposes movement of the arm 9. The resistance which the spring finger I4 offers to movement of the arm 9 is designated in Fig. 5 as R2. The combined resistances of both spring lingers is designated in Fig. 5 as R3. flowing through the sections I and 2 and the conduit 6 at a high Velocity inipinges upon the wheel 2S and valve l in such manner as to tend to close the valve. Resistance RI, exerted by spring nger I3, opposes the force exerted by impingement of the fuel iiow and holds the valve l in its open position. The fuel flow, in impinging upon the vanes 2i! causes the wheel 26 to rotate and rotation of the wheel causes it to resist angular displacement of its axis. acting upon the wheel and valve 7 are sufcient to overcome the resistance Rl of the spring linger 4S the valve 'I moves toward a closed position. It has been found from actual experience that once the valve l starts to move toward its closed position it moves very rapidly. As it moves toward its closed position the roller G contacts the spring arm ifi so that the latter opposes movement of the arm 9. The combined resistances of RI and R2, or as indicated as R3, determines the position at which the arm 9 and valve l come to rest. In other words R3 is a force which balances the valve 1 against the forces tending to fully close the valve and determines the area of the opening when the valve is in its governing accelerating the pendulum tends to swing reari wardly and in so doing tends to add resistance to the resistance RI exerted by the spring I3 so as to delay initial movement of the valve l. Resistance RI would then permit initial movement of the arm Ill at a rate of speed quite close to the maximum rate which is indicated on Fig. 5 as fifty miles per hour. If acceleration were not so great, or in other words, if the maximum speed were more slowly approached, the oppo sition added to resistance RI by the tendency of the pendulum to swing would not be so great, and movement of the arm 9 would start at a lower rate of speed.

When the maximum rate of speed has been attained and the impingement of the fuel flow 7 closes the valve 'i the fuel flow to the engine is throttled down and the engine immediately starts to decelerate. The pendulum then tends to swing forwardly and exerts a force tending to hold the valve closed and opposes the resistance R3 which The fuel in When, however, the forces urges opening movement of the valve.

Therefore, when the resistance R3 overcomes the force set up by the pendulum the valve l is rapidly moved to a fully open position. This function insures full engine power for all speeds beneath the maximum speed by avoiding possibility of the several forces acting upon the valve becoming balanced at a point where the valve is, for example, half open or half closed.

The valve l does not entirely close the conduit 6 at any time, it being so constructed that a small area of opening is present when it is in its maximum closed position. The area of the opening is dependent upon the balancing of the forces set up by impingement of the air flow with the forces or resistance R3. The resistance R3 may be increased by moving the abutment l5 toward the free ends of the spring ngers or decreased by moving it toward the point of attachment to the casing 6.

The device as actually built according to theV above description is characterized by the rapidity with which the valve 1 is moved from its maximum positions. With the wheel 26 held stationary this characteristic is not so pronounced which supports the theory that in rotating at a high rate of speed, due to impingement of the fuel against the vanes 2t, a gyroscopic action is present which opposes displacement of the axis of the wheel and, therefore, swinging movement of the pendulum. It is estimated that with the valve 'l in its maximum closed position the Wheel will revolve at approximately 1000 R. P. M. This resistance to displacement of the axis acts as a check on the swinging movement of the pendulum from any given position. This condition, combined with a spring resistance which increases rapidly after a predetermined valve movement results in a rapid movement of the valve to a closed position. Due to the fact that impingement of the fuel flow, rather than the pressure thereof, is utilized to close the valve, the force which closes the valve terminates when the valve is closed and the resistance R3 need only be suincient to overcome the gyroscopic action of the wheel 2B and the inertia of the pendulum in order to open the valve. These last two forces result in a slight delay in the opening of the valve, but once their inertia is overcome the valve moves very rapidly. The resulting function approximates a snap action in that the movement from either the open position to maximum closed lposition is characterized by its rapidity.

In Fig. l of the drawings, the ledge la on the Valve 1 is more clearly shown. This ledge extends perpendicular to the upper wing of the valve adjacent the basethereof, in the case of a down draft carburetor such as shown. This ledge seems to function as a collector to build up pressure by impingement of the fuel iiow which tends to move the valve to its closed position. I am unable to explain the action which takes place because of the presence of this ledge but actual experience has shown that the invention functions more efficiently and reliably when the ledge is presentl than when it is not present.

Although the invention is illustrated and described as designed for a down draft carburetor it will be understood that it is adaptable to any type'of engine and carburetor, and that various changes may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention. Such changes are contemplated.

What I claim is:

1. In an engine speed governing device having a valve operating arm movable to extreme opposite positions in response to fuel flow and urged to remain in the extreme positions by a gyroscopic pendulum device, a single leaf spring bifurcated to provide a pair of laterally positioned spring fingers for yieldingly opposing movement of the arm in one direction and extending transverse to the axis of the arm, one of said fingers constantly opposing movement of the arm in said one direction and the other of said fingers being arranged to aid the rst-named finger on predetermined movement of said arm in said one direction, said fingers having hooked ends to receive said arm.

2. In an engine speed governing device having a fuel ow control valve operablevin response to fuel iiow and actuated by a gyrcscopicpendulum device, a leaf spring member bifurcated at one CII end providing a pair of spring ngers, one of said springs constantly yieldably opposing movement of the valve in one direction and the other of said springs aiding said one spring on predetermined movement of the valve, and a movably adjustable fulcrum common to both of said spring fingers to adjust the tension thereof.

3. In a liquid fuel feed system having a fuel supply conduit, a butteriiy Valve pivotally balanced and disposed in said conduit to control flow therethrough, means operable in response to fuel iiow through said conduit to move said valve between closed and open positions, one of the wings of said butterfly valve having an angularly disposed portion directed counter to the direction of fuel flow, and a ledge on the other of the valve wings adjacent the valve pivot and directed counter to the direction ol fuel flow, said ledge cooperating with said other valve wing to provide a pocket to build up fuel pressure acting to close said Valve.

AUGUST W. KRETZSCI-IMAR. 

